Dr. Roberta Cilio, neurologist at UCSF, proudly tells her patient Sam Vogelstein he is cleared to drive a car.

Lesley McClurg/ KQED

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Originally published on August 6, 2018 6:47 pm

The first prescription medication extracted from the marijuana plant is poised to land on pharmacists' shelves this fall. Epidiolex, made from purified cannabidiol, or CBD, a compound found in the cannabis plant, is approved for two rare types of epilepsy.

Its journey to market was driven forward by one family's quest to find a treatment for their son's epilepsy.

Scientific and public interest in CBD had been percolating for several years before the Food and Drug Administration finally approved Epidiolex in June. But CBD — which doesn't cause the mind-altering high that comes from THC, the primary psychoactive component of marijuana — was hard to study, because of tight restrictions on using cannabis in research.

Sam Vogelstein's family and his doctors found ways to work around those restrictions in their fight to control his seizures.

Sam's seizures started in 2005 when he was four years old. It's a moment his mother, Evelyn Nussenbaum, will never forget. The family was saying goodbye to a dinner guest when Sam's face suddenly slackened and he fell forward at the waist.

"He did something that looked like a judo bow after a match," says Nussenbaum.

Two months passed before Sam had another seizure, but then he started having them every week. Eventually he was suffering through 100 seizures a day.

"When they were bad, they were once every three minutes," Nussenbaum says.

A roller-coaster ride

Sam was diagnosed with epilepsy with myoclonic-absences, which is characterized by an abrupt unresponsiveness and then sudden body jerks. The episodes were quick, but dangerous.

The electricity in Sam's brain would misfire for about five to 20 seconds, enough time to fall down stairs, plunge face first into a dinner plate, or crack his head on a window.

"I don't remember a lot of it really," says Sam.

He does remember the barrage of medications his doctors put him on. Some helped briefly. Others triggered hallucinations, full body rashes and uncontrolled anger.

"Sam is a pretty gentle person, " his mother says. "We put him on one medication and it made him angry, and he started punching kids. And it was like, 'Oh my God, this is not my kid.' "

Sam struggled to read, to write, to solve math problems and Nussenbaum watched her son fall further and further behind in school.

Life for Sam was like a bad cell phone connection: Every few moments the signal dropped out.

"It was scary," Nussenbaum says. "I would often cry in my shower or I would drive up to the top of Grizzly Peak [in Berkeley] and sit in my car and scream."

Pushing for access

In 2011, Nussenbaum came across an article in a British medical journal about a small seizure study on rats. The researchers successfully treated the rodents with CBD.

"I thought, 'My son needs access to that,' " says Nussenbaum.

But, seven years ago, pure CBD was not easy to get. Many states have since legalized medical marijuana and CBD is widely available at dispensaries and on the internet, but it is still classified as a Schedule 1 drug by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration which means it's illegal under federal law.

Then, Nussenbaum learned about a British pharmaceutical company – GW Pharmaceuticals — that was making a medicine derived from highly-concentrated CBD to treat multiple sclerosis patients. After months of phone calls and emails from Sam's parents, the company agreed to let Sam try the drug, in the U.K., under a doctor's supervision for two weeks. The family flew to London shortly after.

"After one day his seizures were down to 30," says Nussenbaum. "After two days they were down to ten. After three days he had one seizure."

Sam didn't suffer any side effects.

Back in the U.S. Sam's parents needed to find a way to keep getting the drug. They collaborated with Dr. Roberta Cilio, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco. They petitioned the FDA to allow Sam to use the drug under a compassionate use program. Four months and hundreds of pages of documents later, the FDA allowed Sam to enroll in his own one-person trial at UCSF.

The DEA was a little more cautious. One day two agents knocked on Cilio's office door. After hours of questioning, the two men requested she store the medication in a giant safe weighing close to 1,000 pounds.

According to GW Pharmaceuticals, Sam was the first patient in the world to receive Epidiolex.

An expanded trial and varying results

Inspired by Sam's success, Cilio, and other clinicians, started trying Epidiolex on other patients. In 2015, she and several co-authors published a study in Lancet Neurology that included 214 patients with treatment-resistant epilepsy, all children and young adults.

For most patients the results were not as dramatic as they had been for Sam. Seizures dropped in 36.5 percent of patients, which is about the same success rate as other seizure medications, Cilio says.

And some patients experienced side effects like fatigue, diarrhea and convulsions. Cilio doesn't know why CBD transforms some lives and other patients don't respond at all.

"The studies that are out are mostly short term," says Cilio. "We need to learn who the best responders are. Of course, we know this is not a miracle drug."

There have been other trials of CBD oil for epilepsy, which have shown that the substance is helpful for a portion of patients. Several states have legalized CBD oil specifically for the treatment of intractable epilepsy or seizure disorders.

And as NPR has reported, CBD has gained popularity with consumers as a remedy for a variety of other ailments. But the products that are available over the counter or in medical cannabis dispensaries, aren't regulated the way pharmaceutical drugs are, so the consistency and dose can vary widely.

The FDA's decision to approve Epidiolex means that epilepsy patients will have access to a pharmaceutical-grade drug, which delivers a high-quality, consistent dose of CBD, says Dr. Robert Carson a pediatric neurologist at Vanderbilt University who treats patients with epilepsy.

Unanswered Questions

Epidiolex still has to get over one regulatory hurdle. The DEA needs to reclassify CBD so it is no longer considered a Schedule 1 substance. Drugs in this category are considered to have no medical use and a high potential for abuse. The FDA's approval of Epidiolex means CBD no longer fits that category and the reclassification is expected some time in the fall.

Patients will need a prescription to get the drug. GW Pharmaceuticals has not released a price yet. And Sam's mom, Evelyn Nussenbaum worries that some insurance companies might not cover it.

In the meantime, Sam still gets his drugs from the investigational pharmacy at UCSF. One day he hopes he'll be prescribing the medication to patients like him.

"I want to be an epilepsy doctor," Sam says.

First he's working on his driving license. Dr. Cilio just cleared Sam to get behind the wheel. He's 17 now and hasn't had a seizure in more than two years.

The first medication derived from marijuana could be in pharmacies as early as this fall. The FDA recently approved it to treat two rare types of epilepsy. KQED's Lesley McClurg has the story of one family's quest to get this drug.

LESLEY MCCLURG, BYLINE: Evelyn Nussembaum used to watch her son Sam suffer through 100 seizures a day.

EVELYN NUSSEMBAUM: When they were bad, they were once every three minutes.

MCCLURG: Sam was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 4 years old.

SAM VOGELSTEIN: When I did have a seizure, I would sort of - everything went black kind of.

MCCLURG: For about 20 seconds - just long enough to tumble down a flight of stairs at his house in Berkeley, plunge into a dinner plate, crack his head on a window.

VOGELSTEIN: I don't remember a lot of it really.

MCCLURG: Doctors tried nearly two dozen different medications to treat Sam. Nothing worked long term. And the side effects from many were severe - full-body rashes, fits of rage, strange visuals.

VOGELSTEIN: I hallucinated that my bug sheets came to life and that I had holes in my body.

MCCLURG: Seven exhausting years passed. And then Evelyn came across a study using cannabidiol, or CBD, to successfully treat seizures in rats. CBD is an extract from the cannabis plant that doesn't make you high.

NUSSEMBAUM: And I thought my son needs access to that. I got to get this.

MCCLURG: She dug around and found a British pharmaceutical company that was making highly concentrated CBD for multiple sclerosis patients. The company agreed to let Sam try the drug in the U.K. under a doctor's supervision for two weeks.

NUSSEMBAUM: After one day, his seizures were down to 30. After two days, they were down to 10. After three days, he had one seizure.

MCCLURG: Sam is now 17. The drug still works. And he doesn't have any side effects. For the past six years, the FDA has allowed what's called a compassionate use for Sam. Along the way, hundreds of other patients have tried the drug in clinical trials, which eventually led to its recent FDA approval. The brand name for the CBD drug is Epidiolex.

JOE SIRVEN: This is what everyone asked about.

MCCLURG: Dr. Joe Sirven is a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

SIRVEN: This almost had like instant name recognition.

MCCLURG: He says his patients read about Epidiolex studies on social media, and then they begged to try it.

MCCLURG: Now, many patients are using CBD from marijuana dispensaries. But these aren't regulated, and the dose and consistency can vary widely. Still, Sirven doesn't necessarily recommend switching.

SIRVEN: I would never change it if it's working for you. If it's not though, here's an option.

MCCLURG: Epidiolex isn't right for everyone. It only reduces seizures in about 30 percent of epilepsy patients. And the drug can cause side effects - like fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, rashes, insomnia. And it's not on the market just yet. First, the Drug Enforcement Administration needs to reclassify CBD. It's currently a Schedule I drug, meaning it's illegal under federal law. That's expected to happen by early fall.

NUSSEMBAUM: So once that's done, it could potentially be in Walgreens or Rite Aid. But there are still big holes - there are big gaps in this.

MCCLURG: The price has not been announced yet. You will need a prescription. And Nussenbaum worries some insurance companies may not cover Epidiolex.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: So it looks like we got an order for 10 bottles here.

MCCLURG: For now, Sam still gets his drugs at the investigational pharmacy at UC San Francisco.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: All right. And if I could have you sign there for me please.

NUSSEMBAUM: One more time, OK.

MCCLURG: Some day Sam hopes he's the one prescribing Epidiolex.

VOGELSTEIN: I want to be an epilepsy doctor.

MCCLURG: First, the 17-year-old is going to get his driver's license. He was just cleared to get behind the wheel. He hasn't had a seizure in more than two years. For NPR News, I'm Lesley McClurg in San Francisco. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.